On Monday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen held a virtual meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He, during which she "frankly raised concerning issues," according to a statement from the Treasury. The Treasury's statement did not specify the nature of the issues discussed during the meeting. However, it noted that the officials "discussed macroeconomic and financial developments in the United States and China and acknowledged that developments in our economies have significant implications for the global economy."
This meeting comes two weeks after a second round of talks between U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and the same Chinese official, where they discussed Chinese trade practices that Washington considers unfair, aiming to establish a "responsibly managed trade relationship." Tai elaborated in these talks on U.S. concerns regarding "state-driven non-market practices in China that harm American workers, farmers, and businesses," according to her office's statement.
These communications signal both parties' efforts to repair bilateral relations, which have deteriorated during the presidency of Donald Trump, despite a truce signed in January 2020 between the two countries. The Biden administration is working to address structural issues such as the massive subsidies provided by the Chinese government to state-owned enterprises and coercive technology transfer practices that require foreign companies to share their technological knowledge with their Chinese partners if they wish to operate in the country, as well as issues related to intellectual property rights.
These practices, which prevent fair competition over time, have led to a significant trade deficit for the U.S. with China. In 2019, the deficit amounted to $344 billion for goods alone, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, while it reached $218.9 billion in the first eight months of this year.
